


New Beginnings

by DesertVixen



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant to a Point, F/M, Imzadi (Star Trek), Naked Wedding, Post-Generations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25558927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: New beginnings post-Generations
Relationships: Beverly Crusher & Deanna Troi, Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker/Deanna Troi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45
Collections: Just Married Exchange 2020





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [refusetoshine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/refusetoshine/gifts).



The crash landing of the Enterprise-D had been the end of not just a ship, but of an era. 

Their seven years together had given them more time together than the old five-year missions used to allow for a crew (especially when one considered the variety of temporal anomalies that they had encountered on the Enterprise-D). There had been losses and changes, of course, but the core of the crew had stayed together. Who could have known when they left Farpoint Station in 2364 how everything would go?

Beverly Crusher certainly had not known. She had taken a brief hiatus from the crew herself, to take a position heading Starfleet Medical, but after a year she had come back. No, she told herself as she sat on the shuttle with the belongings she had retrieved from her quarters, after a year she had come home.

And now that home was no more. The saucer section would never rise again, and Starfleet was already making noise about an Enterprise-E. Of course there would be another Enterprise, Beverly thought as the shuttle broke through the atmosphere, but it would not be their Enterprise. The Enterprise-D had done the name proud, but her time was over.

They would go other places, other ships. Will surely deserved a command, for one. Data and Geordi and Work all deserved promotions. Beverly wasn’t sure what she and Deanna would do, but they were overdue for a change.

And Jean-Luc. Surely he deserved a promotion as well, sure he deserved an admiral’s star. She would miss their time together, their private breakfasts, their moments together, including the one time they had almost gleefully erased the line that they had both drawn between them and given into heady impulse. She had regretted leaving his quarters, but she had been afraid that they would regret it if she didn’t leave. 

But, Beverly told herself, every end was also a beginning. A post-Enterprise era might not be so bad…

*** 

Eight months later, Beverly Crusher wondered how she could have been so wrong about new beginnings.

Starfleet, in its infinite wisdom, had decided to assign the almost the whole lot of them to Headquarters. Will had been promised a command in the next slate of captaincies, but in the meantime, he had taken a slot as an aide to Admiral Nechayev. It had been described as a polishing tour, but it was nothing that the first officer of the Enterprise hadn’t already done. 

Worf had taken an extended leave of absence, although Beverly knew he had been offered a position at the Academy. 

Data had been detached to the Vulcan Science Academy - which Beverly found funny, since he now experienced emotions. She hoped that he would gain some useful knowledge from his stay on Vulcan. She had traveled there briefly as part of a medical exchange a few months ago, and he had been doing well.

Beverly, Deanna, and Geordi had all three ended up at the Academy as instructors. She found it interesting, especially when they were doing practical exams. She was on the roster for the Kobayashi Maru test simulator crew, and had to admit she enjoyed adding a little theatrical flare to their various “deaths”. 

Jean-Luc seemed to have vanished. Last she had heard from Will, he’d taken an extended leave himself, and joined an archaeology expedition. She’d been a little hurt that he had only sent her a brief message or two, but told herself it was her own fault for expecting more. 

Tonight, however, she wasn’t going to fret about how new beginnings had turned out. She was going to need all her concentration for a tradition that had been brought back to Earth - the senior officers’ weekly poker game.

They had a few new players, of course - Will Riker needed new victims periodically - and now part of the ritual involved bringing food for a communal meal before the game. But Beverly enjoyed seeing her friends, even when she didn’t leave with heavier pockets. Will and Deanna were living together now, since they weren’t in the same chain-of-commands, and Beverly was happy that at least those two could be a couple.

At least someone was enjoying a new beginning.

*** 

“A traditional Betazoid wedding?” Beverly asked, raising an eyebrow. “You mean one where we are all naked?”

Deanna nodded. “Will and I actually met at one, you know. Of course, it’s permissible to wear clothes if you feel too uncomfortable…”

“But it would look strange to have a member of the wedding party wearing clothes. I guess on Betazed the tradition of bad bridesmaid dresses doesn’t exist?”

“No, instead we have the reception outfits to coordinate.” Deanna sighed. “And my mother.”

Beverly had seen what sort of mayhem Lwaxana Troi could cause on a normal occasion. She could only imagine her as the mother-of-the-bride. 

“Please say you’ll stand up with me,” Deanna continued. “There’s no one else I would rather have, Beverly.”

“How could I say no?” She hugged Deanna. “I’m so very happy for the two of you.”

“We’re finally ready, I think,” Deanna said softly, then shifted to wedding business. “Much to my mother’s disappointment, we will not be traveling to Betazed for the wedding. Since so many of our friends are already here, we thought it would make more sense for us to stay on Earth. There is a Betazoid consulate in Hawaii with a private beachfront to accommodate traditional weddings.”

“Sounds like a nice place to be naked,” Beverly joked. 

“Just for the ceremony,” Deanna reassured her. “The reception will be clothed.”

*** 

What she wouldn’t do for her friends, Beverly mused as she stripped down to her skin and watched the sunset beginning over the water. She wondered how Geordi - Will’s best man - was feeling about the whole process. When she was done, she adjusted the white plumeria blossom pinned behind her ear, and fluffed out her hair. 

Then there was nothing left to do but to walk out in front of the guests waiting on the beach. It was a smaller crowd than it might have been on Betazed, but then Beverly might not have known so many of them. She was hardly ashamed of her body, and knew that nakedness at a Betazoid wedding was meant to symbolize spiritual openness, and she was a doctor so theoretically nakedness should not bother her. But how was she supposed to relieve her nerves? Imagine everyone with clothes on? Maybe imagine everyone with ugly clothes on?

She shook her head and laughed at herself. This was for Deanna and Will, she reminded herself, and stepped out of the preparation area.

The wedding was being held on the beach, to the point where it looked as if the officiant, Will and Deanna would standing in the beautifully blue water, and flowers were massed around in huge pots. In a nod to local tradition, all of the guests had been given colorful leis. Will and Deanna had opted to omit some of the family symbolism, but the rest of the ceremony remained the same. Lwaxana Troi, for a miracle, seemed so happy that her daughter was finally marrying that she had managed to not drive everyone to distraction.

Beverly walked down the on the soft sand, keeping her eyes focused on the ocean. When she reached the front, she walked to where Deanna was seated in the front row, her hair partly pulled back with a gauzy white band. Beverly kept her eyes on her dear friend, who had never looked lovelier than she did right now, when she was about to marry the man she loved beyond anything else.

“I summon you to the place of marriage,” Beverly said, extending her hand. She glanced up as Deanna stood, and found herself staring right into Jean-Luc Picard’s eyes. 

The ceremony seemed to fly by until it was time for the wedding party to walk back to the preparation area and change into reception clothes. This time she could scarcely avoid seeing some of the guests - Worf in just his battle sash and a brilliant yellow lei was particularly unforgettable - but somehow in her mind she only really saw Jean-Luc.

She had never been so glad to get dressed in her entire life.

***

She felt better in the turquoise and pink floral print dress she had found for the reception. The evening was beautifully mild, the food and drinks were plentiful, and everyone was having a great time. Will and Deanna were seated at a little table by themselves, with eyes only for each other. Data and Geordi were catching up near the bar, and Beverly stopped to chat with them. Data was full of observations about the effects of nakedness - Beverly was mildly relieved that they had convinced him to put clothes back on - but soon enough their conversation was interrupted by the headband toss, the Betazoid equivalent of tossing the bouquet.

Somehow she found herself in the group of women waiting to catch it, mostly because she didn’t want to make a scene and ruin the fun of the day, the day two of her dearest friends finally made a commitment.

Of course she caught it.

All she could think about was Deanna confiding what it meant, how she had caught the headband at that first wedding all those years ago. It meant that the great love of your life was at the gathering. Not that you would be next to marry, or that you meet the great love of your life, but that they were there.

And then she looked up and saw Jean-Luc standing there.

“Would you care to dance, Beverly?” He extended a hand.

“I’d love to,” she said, taking his hand. 

They said little, but then Beverly thought that sometimes the words were what caused them to make mistakes. She wanted to just enjoy this moment with the man she thought might be the great love of her life, whether he knew it or not. 

Maybe their new beginning had just been a little delayed.

*** 

“You aimed it at her deliberately,” Will Riker said to Deanna Riker much later, as they lay in each other’s arms.

“Guilty,” Deanna said with a contented sigh as his hand traveled up and down her spine. “Just like you made sure Captain Picard would attend the wedding.”

Will smiled at her. “Guilty. Well, sometimes fate needs a little bit of a helping hand,” he admitted. 

“I hope it’s true,” Deanna said softly. “I want all of our friends to be as happy as we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it. It's not super wedding themed, but I couldn't resist throwing these two couples together! Numerous references, of course, to Imzadi for Will and Deanna's past.
> 
> Basically however, this story just works on the premise that First Contact and anything after didn't happen. It works for me, and hopefully for you!


End file.
